It Was Either That Or Another Digipad
by Trudyann B. -formerly weirdIT
Summary: Homunculus must keep time from being destroyed, but he needs help lifting a box...
1. Introduction

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated K[plus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Introduction / Author's Note **

**1.21.2008 4:47:16**

_(Feel free to skip this, maybe you'll want to read it after you've read the story…)_

I got the game Shadow of Destiny around thanksgiving last year. It was about five bucks at Big Lots. It took me approximately a month and a half to get through all the endings(I took _lots_ of breaks), and I'm still working on getting 100 percent. The story intrigued me, and I felt that I could do so much more with it (especially Homunculus's character which is my all time favorite), but I didn't know what angle to approach it in.

Then, one night, at one AM, I was doing my homework and listening to my Blue October CD, when it hit me. What if Homunculus was injured somehow, and couldn't support his own weight, so Eike had to help him because he was the only other living being who knew how to work the Digipad? So I started on my first draft. It took me about a month to work out kinks in the plot and such, but then I noticed that the story was lopsided. All the problems were solved in the beginning, and I had no idea how to tie the knot. I started scribbling the story down aimlessly, until another day while I was in English class, another way of looking at my story came to me. It would twist the plot around so that there were much less kinks to iron out, and the story wouldn't be so aimless, and I could still keep most of the dialogue between Eike and Homunculus that I enjoy writing so very much. The story still isn't flawless. There's still some lopsidedness I wasn't able to smooth out, and it's much shorter than it would have been; but it works.

While I was writing the original story, my friend, Skittlez, who was just finishing the game, decided to write her own little ficlet in the middle of my story. She made it silly and knew perfectly well that the characters were OOC, but she enjoyed writing it, and I could barely contain my laughter as I read it that day in English class (the same day I came up with the new draft). The sentence "It was either that or another Digipad." Was a punch line in her story (quoted from Homunculus). A week later, I still didn't know what I was going to call my story. I went through her story, saw that line; and noticed that to some extent, it fit with my story. And that's how the title was made. So I thank Skittlez for the inspiration.

I also want to thank my brother, alias Jorick Horn for his help in creating this story. Though he sometimes didn't want to help me sort out the constant dead ends I made for myself when writing the first draft, he did. If it wasn't for his help, I would've given up on this story ages before I came up with the new draft.

Here are a few facts that I made for my first draft and never entered into the new draft:

**Energy Units** are naturally occurring bits of radioactive energy. Though they are usually invisible, they respond with a green glow when in close proximity to the digipad. They can be scooped up by the Digipad.

**These formulas explains Homunculus's main energy source in birth and destruction:**

Energy Unit _[plus_ H2O [_equals_ Homunculite (fluid Homunculus was created in) _[plus_ Philosopher's Stone _[plus_ ten days _[equals_ Homunculus.

Homunculus _[plus_ energy unit (from broken sliver of Digipad) _[equals_ liquid Philosopher's Stone _[plus _twelve hours _[equals_ Philosopher's Stone.

When I found the Shadow of Destiny fan-fictions, I was not surprised that there weren't very many; but it is a shame that this is so. I decided to read all of them. I have three favorites, the rest are mostly good; though I have run into one or two that I couldn't finish because they sort of annoyed me… heh… not mentioning names. I've read through all the Eike/Homunculus stories as well, even though it took quite a bit of effort since I don't think you can have any sort of romance story for Homunculus without him being OOC. He's not a lovey-dovey guy. Still I really appreciated the Eike/Homunculus fic_, Shattered Bodies, Fractured Souls_. Because other than the romance, Homunculus was in character, and because the story of Homunculus's life is well thought out and believable. This would be one of the three favorites I've mentioned. The others are _Shadow of Destiny Once Again _and_ Out of the Shadows_.

I look forward to being the thirtieth story on the Shadow of Destiny/ Memories branch of fanfiction[dot net, and I hope you enjoy my story. Please read and review if at all possible.

-Trudyann (aka. weirdIT)  
**End of Introduction. **


	2. Prologue

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated K[plus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Prologue**

**8.2.2002 12:00:47**

Eike sits on his bed, folding his laundry. He starts folding a pair of old pants that he hardly wears anymore. As he turns them upside down, a small black book falls out of the pants, landing with a light thunk on the floor. Eike picks up the book. It has a strange white pentagram on the cover.

_"Ugh! Please don't shove that near me. I… I don't like that symbol on the cover." Homunculus exclaimed, backing away from the book._

_"What, this? You don't like this pentagram kind of thing?... You're a little strange," said Eike._

_"Well of coarse I am. In any case, I know the contents of that book…"_

Eike shudders from the memory. Throughout the past six months he had tried to forget that one horribly long day when he was put to the task of preventing his own murder. He had been given a time traveling device known as the Digipad by a strange humanoid creature called Homunculus. He had endured death after death, and resurrection after resurrection trying to remove the underlying cause of his death. He had gone to foreign times that he had never imagined seeing with his own two eyes. In the end, he figured out that the Homunculus had only been _using_ Eike to ensure his own birth. These were not Eike's most treasured memories.

His eyes are drawn to the window as he sees a red flash out of the corner of his eye. He sees a dog. Then, suddenly, it disappears. He stands from his bed, alarmed. Another red flash appears next to him. He jumps, and backs away from it. The old green jacket on his bed, which was in close proximity to the bright red light, vanishes. He starts to run away from his room, not really sure where he will go. He is only acting on his instincts that something's wrong and he should run away from it. Another bright red spark appears right in front of him. He tries to stop, but the momentum pushes him into the focal point of the red glow. He yelps as he falls victim to a strange feeling all over his body that reminds him so clearly of the strange events of that one ill fated day half a year ago. He nearly believes that it is that very day all over again. His vision goes black.

**End of Prologue.**


	3. Chapter 1

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated K[plus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Chapter 1**

**0.0.0000 0:00:00**

When he refocuses, he is in a room too familiar for comfort. It is Homunculus's Lair, the place he came after every death he had to endure. Seeing this room had usually been accompanied by a dull pain from the injury that caused his death, but surely he was not dead now…?

He looks to the figure standing about ten feet away. The pale skin, dark clothes, and ruby red eyes could be identified from eighty meters away.

"Hello, Eike. How are things?" Homunculus uses his favorite greeting, a look of amusement playing across his face at watching Eike's astonishment. Eike doesn't speak, taking in his surroundings over and over again and still not believing where he was. "I know I told you we probably wouldn't be meeting again, but I have a task for you," the humanoid continued. Eike was no longer looking at him, but at the large door behind him, then the window above the large misshapen stone head, then the grandfather clock in the corner before refocusing on Homunculus again, his face still portraying nothing but shock.

"Y-you want my help… and you expect me to just give it to you…" Eike replies, gaining his footing in this place again.

"Well, I had hoped you would be obliging, considering I had saved you," Homunculus says. This isn't the complete truth. The dijnn knew it would be difficult to persuade Eike to do this for him after all that had happened six months earlier, but persuasion was something Homunculus was fairly good at. Besides, he could think of nothing in this simple favor that Eike would want to object to.

"The only thing you did was make sure you were born. My surviving was just a side affect," Eike states. "If I had died that night after your destiny was already preserved, you wouldn't have lifted a finger to save me and we both know it." The red eyed creature raises his eyebrow mockingly. Homunculus is, in fact, a bit surprised that Eike had thought it all through so carefully. He was right, if Eike had died that night after Homunculus was already sure he would be born, the dijnn certainly would not go through the trouble of resurrecting him again. It had been a hassle just to resurrect him in the first place. Doing all those incantations over and over again was certainly not how the dijnn would spend his free time if he could live otherwise. But he would not let actual surprise show when dealing with such an inferior as a human being.

"Oh, come now. Why must we always talk about such unpleasant things?" Homunculus asks rhetorically. Eike answers anyway.

"Because I refuse to be your puppet again. I know better now. If I can help it, I won't let you screw around with other people's lives anymore; even if I die because of it!"

"Those are very strong words, and I give you points for morale, but I'm afraid I won't be needing a puppet today," Homunculus chides. Eike is caught off guard by this.

"What?"

"Eike, I'm not going to manipulate you in any way… this time. I'm going to be frank and honest with you. Is that so hard to believe?" The demon places his hands on his hips dramatically.

"Yes," The human answers. Homunculus is amused.

"I swear on whatever you humans swear on in your time. I will be totally and in every way honest with you," the dijnn states, raising his right hand. Eike stares back in complete amazement, and Homunculus smirks. "So, will you help me?"

"That depends on what you want me to do. " Eike replies. The demon keeps his smirk in place as he kneels, and makes himself comfortable on the wooden floor, and then invites Eike to join him. Eike sits cross legged and waits for Homunculus to speak.

**End of Chapter 1.**


	4. Chapter 2

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated K[plus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Chapter 2**

**0.0.0000 0:00:00**

"I've brought you here because, first of all, you are the only human I have interacted with that still knows anything about me. Second of all, you are a human, and in so forth you can lift heavy things that I can not lift, correct?" The dijnn pauses here.

"Well, I guess," Eike responds.

"Now you see, though I can lift things with magic, I can not carry things through time with magic alone, except things that are made of purely magical properties such as the digipad. I need to hold on to anything else physically, and it is a tremendous strain for even the littlest thing. Unless it has a soul of its own, I cannot teleport it easily. Your jacket was a struggle enough." At this the dijnn snaps his fingers, and the stray black dog comes from around the stone head with Eike's jacket in his mouth. Eike laughs dryly and takes the jacket from the dog, then scratches her behind the ear in thanks. The dog decides to stay there, and lies down next to Eike. Homunculus continues with his explanation as if nothing had happened.

"Have you misplaced your lighter?" the demon inquires, already fully aware of the answer. Eike looks up from the dog.

"Actually yes, but I didn't bother to look for it since I'm trying to quit smoking…" The human answers.

"You left it in 1864 where Hugo stumbled across it. Hugo was fascinated with the device. He wanted to remember that he has seen a time in which the human race was able to create something like it through pure science. This led him to not destroy his time machine either, but only take it apart. Years later, his daughter came across it. She was so intrigued by it that she rebuilt it behind her father's back. She spent several years putting it back together—years she should have spent leading a normal life." Homunculus delivers this strange story as though he were talking about the weather.

"When she was done putting it back together, she realized its problem in only being able to follow the digipad. By now she was in her late teens, and should have been married and had kids, as was accustomed to her time. Instead, she spent _more_ time researching and experimenting until she found a way to overcome that problem. Her cleverness exceeded even her father's. But this time machine was a great threat to me. A time machine with no limits can easily create an absolute zero so vast that all of time could be wiped from existence leaving all things in suspended animation if not handled with the utmost care. She had no where near the experience I had in puncturing the fabric of time without tearing it completely.

"To stop such a danger from arising, I wish for you to accompany me while I go back in time and bring the time machine back to this realm before Hugo's daughter discovers it." The dijnn looks at Eike, finished.

"Why do I need to accompany you, again?" Eike asks. The demon rolls his red eyes in annoyance. It was as if the man was _trying_ to make the demon speak of his weaknesses over and over again. Honestly, humans could be so thick.

"Well_ I_ can't very well pick up the time machine now, can I?" Homunculus replies dryly. Eike's eyes widen in understanding.

"Oh! Right. But wait… couldn't you just get my lighter back before Hugo discovers it?" Eike inquires thoughtfully. Homunculus sighs. This, at least, was a legitimate question.

"Hugo discovers the lighter almost exactly after he goes back to his time with his sister. If I interfere there, my destiny and yours will not be assured, and it's also very likely that something else would change his mind. It's much safer to just erase it from the human realm altogether, " The creature states. Eike thinks about this.

"But won't you still be strained if I carry the time machine while you're teleporting me?"

"As long as you have a soul to grab onto and you're the one holding on to the time machine, which shouldn't be hard for you, I'll be fine."

"You're sure there's no evil scheme behind this that you're not telling me about," Eike says cautiously.

"I'd cross my heart if I had one," the humanoid responds.

"Well… I guess there's no harm in going along with it," Eike agrees uncertainly.

"Let's get started, then," Homunculus says; and with a wry smile, the dijnn dissolves into teleportation. Eike soon feels himself being broken up and then sucked into the same state.

**End of Chapter 2.**


	5. Chapter 3

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated K[plus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Chapter 3**

**9.14.1593 1:50:13**

Homunculus and Eike arrive in 1593 at the southern most part of town outside a door. Eike remembers this place almost too well. He looks at the door in front of him; before he has time to give Homunculus a puzzled look, the dijnn is already explaining.

"I don't exactly think I should be seen here. So I'm going to stay hidden," he starts. He dissolves again, but Eike can still hear his voice as clearly as if he were still visible. "Hugo and his family live here now. The time machine is in the basement. Hugo's daughter is upstairs, but hurry because she'll be going down to the basement soon. I've unlocked the doors for you." And then there is silence. Eike enters the house as quietly as possible. He can hear Hugo's daughter rummaging through something upstairs. He carefully and quietly makes his way down to the basement and is startled to find how much it looks like Dr. Wagner's lab. Eike's eyes stray toward the far wall. It has the pentagram that disturbs Homunculus etched on it. Below it, Eike recognizes Hugo's time machine. He grabs the box, but as he is about to go back up the stairs, Hugo's daughter opens the door, spotting him immediately. She looks at the crate in Eike's hands.

"Why you dirty, rotten thief!" she yells. Eike panics. He didn't want to meet up with Hugo again. Hugo's daughter is still on the upper landing. She finally decides how to handle the situation. She steps back, blocking off the door. "Whatever that is, it's my father's rightful property. Put it back and I'll let you out. Keep it, and I'll keep you here until my father gets home."

Homunculus suddenly appears across the room: as far away from the pentagram as possible. He is leaning against a wall, arms and legs crossed.

"Homunculus, transport us out of here!" Eike yells desperately.

"I would, but I can't really transport anywhere with a pentagram as big as that in the room. It binds me here magically. I'm lucky it's not activated or all my magic would be gone, or worse," the demon states with a frown. Hugo's daughter, who had only just taken notice of the creature in the corner when he had spoken, shrieks loudly. Eike winces. She loses her footing for a moment, but not long enough to give up her position.

Homunculus sighs and rolls his eyes, slightly amused. Then he closes his eyes and starts chanting some foreign tongue under his breath. His hands begin to glow with a golden light, and Eike knows right away that this is going to be something big. He opens his eyes and points his hands at Hugo's daughter. She yelps as she begins floating off the ground. Homunculus slowly moves her out of the way, grazing her on the ceiling. She kicks, screams, and wails, but it is of no use.

"Eike, go. Fast," The red-eyed creature says calmly. Eike runs up the stairs with the crate in his arms and out the door. Homunculus looks at the spot where the time machine was, and there was the lighter. _Damnit! I should take the lighter, too! _Homunculus thinks. He walks up to the top of the stairs, then lowers Hugo's daughter down on the other side of the room. Once his hands are free of magical influence, he points a hand to the lighter, summoning it. It starts to fly toward him, but Hugo's Daughter catches it from the air. _She's too quick a thinker for her own good_. The dijnn muses impatiently. He flicks his wrist, and the lighter comes pelting out of her grasp. He snags it. It's heavy. Hugo's daughter is already running toward Homunculus. He runs for the door. It's exhausting. Hugo's daughter catches his foot. He pushes her back with magic and dissolves himself from view, then continues out the door. As soon as he sees Eike, he teleports; Eike following. It's difficult to carry the lighter and Eike through the time-space-continuum to his Lair, and the dijnn was already tired from running. When he gets himself and Eike safely to his lair, he collapses.

**End of Chapter 3.**


	6. Chapter 4

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated T for mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Chapter 4**

**0.0.0000 0:00:00**

Eike is sitting down, the box in his lap when he arrives in the mysterious realm. He looks around for his red-eyed acquaintance, but cannot find him and starts to worry. He looks down at the box and curses under his breath. It isn't as full as it was when he picked it up in Hugo's lab. The dog springs up and starts barking at the human.

"Homunculus?" He calls out. He had not seen anything of Homunculus, and as far as he knew he teleported without the demon.

"I'm over here," comes the strained voice of the dijnn. He appears next to the bookshelf. He is lying on the ground, one of his hands on his head, the other clasped over an unknown object in his hand, and his eyes shut. Eike instinctively puts the box aside to move closer to the humanoid lying before him.

"What's wrong?" asks Eike urgently. Homunculus opens his hand to reveal the lighter weighing down his hand.

"I'm exhausted," says the demon. He opens his eyes halfway, his red irises barley showing from beneath his pale eyelids. "Take the damn lighter," he orders, frowning. Eike takes the lighter and pockets it.

"Did you use too much magic?" Eike inquires. Homunculus is now bringing his hand away from his head, and trying to stand up.

"No. Magic doesn't tire me easily. Things like carrying inanimate objects through the time-space-continuum and running are what do the job." He falls. The dog's barking is annoying him. He throws it a glare and the dog falls silent, but remains in a position that suggests she is still barking. It 's as if someone had pressed a mute button.

"You'll be okay?" asks the blond haired man, looking at the dog and still trying to get used to all the magic he'd been observing over the past few hours. He'd spent half his life not even believing in magic.

"I'll recover," the creature replies. He tries to stand up, and again he falls. "But I can't transport you home until I gain some strength. That sort of magic takes physical health. Thankfully, I heal faster here than in the human realm, so it won't be too long." Eike looks around the other-than-human realm.

"So I'm stuck in this…. Wait. If this isn't the human realm, what kind of 'realm' is it?" Homunculus looks to Eike with a raised eyebrow. Should he tell Eike anything of value? Homunculus thought of the date in his time. He wouldn't remember it for very long anyway. The dijnn didn't see much harm in telling him a few things. And besides, it would be entertaining to watch the human struggle with the information.

"This is my home," The creature begins. "I don't really know how it came to be, but I do know some properties of it. It's a rip in the space-time continuum. It has no specific whereabouts and no specific date. In fact, there is no fourth dimension here. No time."

"But…" Eike was puzzled already. "If there was no time, how could we understand each other? How could we even hold a conversation? How can you not have time?"

Homunculus closes his eyes, seeing it as pointless to keep them open.

"Time is an illusion, Eike. It's all in your head. The only way it is physical is that in your universe, it makes you older. The planets orbiting the sun is the mark of a theory that things don't just happen all at once. Your mind was built that way. It was built to create time. Right now, right here, in this alternate universe, there are no planets to mark time; therefore, there is no physical evidence to secure its existence. Time is not an issue, and you have literally, and quite successfully, gone insane trying to create the illusion of a fourth dimension. Your stubborn brain can't comprehend any other way of life without it." He said this all very quickly, and then he opened his eyes again. The look on Eike's face as he tried to sort this all out was priceless, and the dijnn knew full well that he would not understand.

"So… you're saying this whole conversation is…infinitesimal? That my words ore overlapping on your words to fit into one tiny moment?"

"No," Homunculus said, enjoying the puzzled look on Eike's face. "Actually, I'm saying that in a world where there is no time, such as the one we are in presently, there is no moment. The conversation is only playing out in our minds and the mind of that dog over there. It is non-existence to everything that is not a living organism."

"So you don't recognize this conversation is happening?" Eike asks in all seriousness. Homunculus tries his hardest to keep from laughing at the question.

"I recognize it is happening; I know it is not. I interact in the illusions of time myself, otherwise I wouldn't be alive. Nor would I be able to participate in this conversation at all. The difference is that I, unlike you, can comprehend existence without a forth dimension, whereas you could be puzzling about it for the rest of eternity and still not understand, no matter how hard you try." There is a pause.

"I don't get it," The human confesses. Homunculus smiles wryly.

"Of course you don't. Now could you help me to a sit at least? Lying on the floor like this doesn't do much to boost one's dignity." Eike stands, and grabs Homunculus's hand. He is surprised how weak it feels, as if it's a piece of paper that could so easily be crumpled. And yet, even though his grasp is firm, it is not giving way. He pulls up, and becomes even more confused as he sees Homunculus being pulled up into an upright position, but does not feel like he is exerting any force at all except to move his own arm.

"Whoa. Why are you so light?" He asks. He can't help it. It caught him off guard. The dijnn just smirks at the human.

"As I've said many times before: I'm fragile, physically. My body's barely dense enough to keep shape and form," The demon replies. Homunculus thinks again back to the date it is in Eike's time for reassurance. He had taken Eike out of that particular time on purpose. Soon enough the memory swipe that the dijnn had given the human so long ago would reset, just like it always did every ten years. All information except basic education such as language and math as well as the basic rules of society would be stored in an irretrievable part of his mind.

Eike is starting to wonder why the red-eyed creature is being so incredibly honest with him. Usually Homunculus would evade his questions. What made this time different?

"Why are you being so honest with me all of the sudden?" The human asks. The demon is giving a wry grin again as he looks up at the man. It makes Eike rethink his question. "Are you being honest with me?"

"Of course I'm being honest. I did promise, didn't I?" The dijnn retorts smugly.

Eike knows better than to assume Homunculus is being _completely_ honest, but he decides to drop it, also knowing better than to expect any more of an answer from the dijnn. Eike's eyes fall on the crate with mist of the time machine in it. The human grits his teeth and closes his eyes, remembering his blunder. The humanoid next to him was going to be furious. He figures it's better now than later that he relay his bad news.

"Uh…" He starts clumsily. "I don't think you'll like this, but I… um…well…" The demon's eyes slide over to the Human, already figuring out from the tone of the man's voice that he was going to hate whatever was to be admitted.

**End of Chapter 4.**


	7. Chapter 5

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated T for mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Chapter 5**

**0.0.0000 0:00:00**

"What did you do?" The complete change in Homunculus's tone from smug to firm is unnerving.

"Well… I might have left a piece or two of the time machine in Hugo's time…"Eike says closing his eyes, bracing for impact. He is surprised when there is none. He looks back at the red eyed creature. Who has his head buried in his hands and is mumbling in Japanese.

"Damn Humans and their damn forgetfulness and their damn curiosity and their damn short attention spans and their damn breathing and their damn Rubric's Cubes…" He might as well curse the human race thoroughly if he was going to curse it at all.

"I'm sorry," Eike cuts the demon off, afraid that what he is muttering is an incantation. 

"Does it look like I care?" The dijnn says switching back to Eike's Austrian tongue. "Apologies aren't going to bring those pieces of the time machine back here." Though his voice is calm, the unearthly quality of it seems to intensify. The blonde man winces, not braced for a verbal blow. 

"We'll have to go back then," Homunculus sighs. He doesn't have much time. Eike may not age in this universe, but as soon as he goes back into the Human Realm, no matter what time period, he'll start aging again; and he is so very close to forgetting everything. If the human was to loose his memory before Homunculus was able to transport him back to his own time, then he would remember the sight of Homunculus bringing him back for another ten years. Ten years would be plenty of time to research who the demon was instead of leading the life he should be leading. The consequences could be dire or slight but there was no way to make sure because it had not happened in the dijnn's current state of mind. Maybe he could go back and retrieve the pieces himself.

"Eike, How large were these pieces. What material?" Homunculus asks.

"Er… about as large as my arm. I think they were made of wood with a couple metal attachments. Why?"

The demon ignored Eike's question. He couldn't lift it. Well he probably could lift it, but only like an eight year old child can lift a sixty pound weight; in a small and fleeting surge of power only to drop it a second later. The dijnn could never carry it through the barrier between two universes. He'd physically break from the strain. 

He calculated the time Eike had left with his memories in his head: three point seven minutes. Was that enough time to retrieve the missing pieces? Even if Eike had enough time before his memory reset, would they be able to get around Hugo's daughter?

"Where were the pieces left?"

The demon stretches out his arm toward the window. The subtle colors of a sunset ripple and transform into a scene of a street outside the door of a house. The two forgotten pieces of the time machine lay on the dirt road. The door opens and Hugo's daughter dashes out. She sees the two pieces and hops over them running around the corner. Minutes later she comes around the corner opposite of where she had retreated. She cusses under her breath and proceeds to pick up the pieces of the machine. She heads back into the house. The window ripples again and now they are looking at the entrance hall where Hugo's Daughter walks across the room and down into the basement. Another ripple; she places the two pieces where the crate used to be in the basement, under the pentagram. She mumbles something to herself, and then goes upstairs. The window ripples once more and this time the image follows her. She pins up her hair and then mumbles again. 

"What's she saying?" Eike asks Homunculus. The dijnn's scarlet eyes never leave the window. 

"Something about how Hugo's going to kill her and getting ready for a town gathering," He replies. The human doesn't bother to ask exactly how the demon knew what she said. When Eike looks back up at the widow he sees it is now working in fast motion. Her father comes in the door; she greets him. They both get into nicer clothing and rush to the town square; the whole time she has a guilty look on her face but does not tell her father. 

"Well, there we are," The demon states mostly to himself. "But their front door is in view from the Town square. We'll have to find our way through the back." The window rippled for the last time back into its permanent sunset. 

"So it's no problem?" The human asks hopefully. 

"It's no where near 'no problem,' Eike. But I'm pretty sure your mistake is manageable," the demon says. "But first, I'll need to be able to stand," With that, he summons a book from across the room. It zooms through the air before gently falling to the floor at the demon's feet, open. "Feel free to grab a book while we wait," Homunculus says. He leans forward, and starts to read. Eike looks at the book but cannot understand the strange characters in which it is written. He then goes on to look at the bookshelf. There seem to be more books than there were before, but he soon notices they are all just more assorted strange languages, none of them his own. 

"The open green book in the corner is in German," Homunculus says without averting his eyes from his book. Eike looks around until he locates the book. He walks over to the book and picks it up, reading the cover. _The Disaccreditation of Alchemy by Alfons Gadspy._ Eike snorted in amusement. He looked back at the demon, who seemed to be smiling inwardly. 

"Why did you get a book about the disproval of Alchemy when you know that almost all of alchemy is true?" The human asks. The dijnn's smile grows before he answers. 

"Maybe I felt like being amused," He replies. This wasn't really true, but it was the easiest to explain. Eike decides to drop the topic. He opens the book and begins to read the introduction. 

**Alchemy is the supposed science of using encircled geometric designs and/or raw materials to create or destroy. I learned of this "science" when researching a creature that I had envisioned when waking from my slumber in a state of confusion and partial amnesia. I continued to research into this fascinating subject for quite some time, several years in fact. The result of my research: absolutely nothing. **

The room is quiet as pages flip and information is gathered in both human and inhuman minds alike. As Eike flips the pages, he learns of pentagrams and other designs that are so complex, they are said to only be successfully drawn using machines. Then, just as he flips the page that was supposedly going to debunk the 'theory' of the Philosopher's Stone, his book is torn away from him by a golden glow and flies back over to the shelf. He looks at where Homunculus was, but he is no longer there. He looks to the door where the dijnn usually sat, and sure enough he's sitting there, smirking and swinging his legs. 

"Ready?" and before Eike can answer, they dissolve into nothingness.


	8. Chapter 6

It Was Either That Or Another Digipad

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated Kplus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Chapter 6 **(last chapter)

**9.14.1593 3:55:03**

Eike hears Homunculus's voice in his head as he is materialized in the street outside an unfamiliar door. The disembodied voice explains the predicament almost too quickly to be understood.

"This is the back door to the house. Since the front door can be seen from the town square, it's necessary that we use this door. Find the missing piece quickly and for goodness sake, don't get caught."

It took the human a few moments to sort through his jumbled thoughts.

"But where do I go?" Eike asks.

"I can't see inside the house. It's protected by a pentagram. You'll have to figure it out on your own—but hurry."

Eike turns the knob, entering the house as quietly and quickly as possible.

But as he enters the room, all thoughts of being quick slip from his mind as he tries to comprehend where in the house he is. The room is littered with wooden instruments and scraps of what might've once been something. He sees two doors and, with no better way of guessing, randomly selects the left one for the sake of keeping himself moving. He is met with a new room that is equally void of clues as to where he is. Another random door later, he enters something resembling a study. There are even more strange contraptions lying about. There are also books and one of them is opened to several strange pentagrams and other circles; one of which he recognizes as the pentagram that was on the cover of that book. Curious, and without much time for thought, he tears the page out and stuffs it in his pocket.

…**13 seconds**

He goes through one more random door and makes it to the pantry. Outside the window he can, indeed, see the gathering in the town square. He can see Hugo, who has aged badly.

…**9 seconds**

Another door; he walks into the entry hall. Finally knowing where he is, Eike moves faster. He speeds down the stairs and rests his eyes on the missing piece of the machine. He seizes it and walks toward the stairs.

…**4 seconds**

The metal attachment falls off. He picks it up and starts climbing the stairs.

…**2 seconds**

He starts to feel a bit dizzy. He loses his balance and falls.

…**1 second**

He wonders why he fell.

…**0 **

Eike blacks out.

Sensing the clock tick to zero, Homunculus sighs with disappointment. Eike was not out of the house. He had had the feeling that Eike would not make it out of the house. The Demon materializes outside of the back door and furrows his brow. He must now get Eike out of pentagram range, and somehow miraculously deposit the piece of the machine in his realm and bring Eike back home before he wakes up.

It is not to be believed that the demon is not mad. The truth of the matter is that Homunculus is angry as hell. But this situation is too critical for him to get lost in rage now.

As his mind calculates a way to solve this problem, he opens the door and enters the house. The effects of the pentagram are immediate. They fight against his mind, and he can no longer figure out where he is. This is not a pentagram against metamorphose magic. Instead it fights the magic he uses for spatial recognition. He sloppily finds a door and opens it, using the other hand to grasp at the throbbing pain in his head. He makes his way through the rooms and finally stumbles his way to Eike. In his weakened state, he could never bring Eike as far as home just yet. He quickly grasps the pieces of the time machine and Eike with magic and transports them to the back door of the house again.

There, the two humanoids lay on their backs for an unknown amount of time. Homunculus's head is still pulsing, but his knowledge comes rushing back. As the throbbing dies down, the dijnn focuses once more on his master plan. He grasps the time machine with a golden glow once more. It flies toward a tree, where it promptly buries itself among the roots.

Homunculus then proceeds to dematerialize himself and Eike. They are heading back to Eike's home.

**End of Chapter 6.**


	9. Epilogue

It Was Either That Or Another Digipad

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated Kplus for very mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**Epilogue**

**8.2.2002 12:02:03**

The room is silent and there is no one in sight. The bed still carries folded clothing that had just recently been abandoned. Two figures appear one after the other out of what seems to be nowhere. The first figure is of short stature. He dissolves into the room from the feet upward in a red glow. When his structure has fully built itself, his eyes open to expose unearthly ruby red irises. This figure seems tired. His eyelids do not fully open.

The second figure that appears is a tall blonde man. He appears laying on the bed on top of both the bedspread and the clothing. His eyes are closed and do not open.

The red-eyed figure stumbles lazily, now fully portraying his exhaustion. He flops down to the floor and rests against the wall, watching the man on the bed with disinterest. Something suddenly flies out of the man's pocket, a golden glow surrounding it. It's a little brown journal and as it comes slowly closer to the red-eyed creature, it tears itself apart.

Time passes. The red-eyed humanoid lays his head back against the wall and starts to close his eyes. Suddenly, the blonde man stirs. The conscious figure looks up at the man on the bed again, this time more alert. His feet start to dissolve in a reddish glow, followed by the rest of his small form. The very moment that the glow ceases and the red eyed being is no more, the man on the bed wakes from his deep slumber.

The man sits up, looking around in a panicked state.

He is in a bedroom. He speaks German. He lives in Lebensbaum. Lebensbaum is in Austria, which is near Germany and Hungary, and Switzerland…

What is he doing? How did he get here? Why are a bunch of folded clothes surrounding him? Is this his bedroom? Is there anyone else around? Who are his friends and enemies? …What is his name?

He slowly rises from the bed and starts searching through his pockets for any clue as to who he is. There's a cell phone, a map of the town in the fifteenth century, and a crumpled piece of paper. He opens the paper to reveal about five different strange arrays. They are all labeled with the names of people who discovered them. He lays the crumpled paper on his bed and continues surveying his surroundings. He looks at the clothing on top of the bed. The only unfolded article of clothing on it is a pair of pants. He picks them up and spies a small black book with a strange design of the cover that had been lying underneath the pants. It matches one of the arrays on the crumpled paper. He reads the writing underneath the array.

**Discovered by Dr. Alphons Gadspy as a way to control a Homunculus. **

He looks at the pentagram-like design and thinks about the name. Both the pentagram and the name were so familiar to him, but he couldn't put a finger on why. _Was_ that his name? Alphons Gadspy? He looks around the paper for a date as to when the array was discovered, but there is nothing to be found. He reads part of the book that he had found under the crumpled pants. It talks of Alchemy—it's such an interesting concept. This Dr. Wagner it spoke of seemed to be quite a character.

Alphons Gadspy… yes; that must be his name. He must be an alchemist.

**2.2.2002 12:00:23**

Homunculus once again appears in the room, but this time there is no one there. However, only moments later, an earlier version of the blonde man walks through the door and stops dead at the sight of the creature.

"Hello, Eike. How are things?"


	10. After Thoughts

**It Was Either That Or Another Digipad**

**By Trudyann B.**

**Rated T for mild language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or settings. I am playing in Konami's sandbox. **

**Ending E **

_(This story contains a few references to other endings as well.)_

**After Thoughts**

**4.20.2008 10:40:00**

I told you it wasn't going to be very long! In fact, it was going to be much shorter, but I found a way to elongate it… slightly. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope that the ending didn't suck too much.

Throughout the story I got two very good questions from Lollipop Mimiloveand so it's time to answer those questions publicly.

"**The fact that you're writing in present tense is a little odd, and I don't find it as easy to read as past tense. Also, you switch POVs in the middle of a scene. None of these things are incorrect, but they're a little harder to read than past tense limited POV. Props to you for trying them, though, and hopefully you'll be able to pull them off.  
Also, I find the chapters a little short."**

I hope I did pull off present tense all right. The thing is, it's less confusing to write a story about time travel in the present tense than in the past tense. I actually didn't notice that I was switching POV's at first… huh…

The chapters are short. It's mostly because I wanted to elongate the story a bit. It's also partially because shorter chapters usually allow me to update faster.

"**Out of curiosity, was there any particular reason Homunculus was muttering in Japanese instead of any other language, or was it random?"**

A question I was hoping someone would ask. (Lollipop Mimilove has already suffered my long-winded answer to this question in a private reply.) Yes. There is a reason, and here it is: My belief is that Homunculus was first created in Japan. Now, my reason at the time for thinking this is that I had just finished reading _Memoirs of a Geisha_ and the way Homunculus wore his sash reminded me of how I envisioned an apprentice Geisha's obi to look like. Of course, I was a bit off. I've looked up pictures since then, and maiko's obi start much higher on the body and are very much wider. Still, I believe Homunculus is originally Japanese. It's a theory that has little evidence anymore, but I stick too it anyway. This is the reason Homunculus mumbles in Japanese.

I'm sure he has had both the time and learning capacity to be fluent in just about every language. But in my little sandbox, he reverts back to Japanese when he is angry or exasperated, as many bilingual people would.

I thank you all for your reviews.

**Conclusion/ Author's Note**

**12.1.2008 9:09:00**

It's taken me so very long to wrap this all up, forgive me. I'm glad most of you enjoyed the story. I understand how the end can be confusing, but it was sort of meant to be. All the same, my apologies for the unsatisfying feeling. ;)

I've enjoyed writing for the tight community that is the Shadow of Destiny/ Memories fandom, and I look forward to writing a new story for you all as soon as I come up with it—maybe a longer one, if I'm lucky… and thoughtful.

I want to especially thank my reviewers; you guys were so sweet and insightful.

I want to, again, thank my brother and friends for being there through this process, even if they were unwilling, they listened to my starry-eyed proclamations about loving Homunculus, and gave me input to keep the story rolling.

At present, I'm writing a Fullmetal Alchemist Fic, and I'm pretty darn sure it will never be published. I'm also writing a novel, that I hope to finish in the next couple years.

On my youtube channel, I posted a small video called Shadow of Destiny Overture, It's not that good, I'm trying to find a better way to pick up the video so that I can make a music video for it, but I have yet to find something free that can pick up game video without a watermark or time limit. Any suggestions that don't lead to a Trojan virus or something similar?

I also drew a picture of Homunculus, if you'd like to see it, change the "slash"es to actual slashes, "equal"s to actual equal signes and "and"s to the little swirly and sign, etc. …And take out all the spaces.:

http "colon" "slash" "slash" .com "slash" albums "slash" a185 "slash" Sparky "underscore" Dude "slash" ?action "equal" view "and" current "equal"

I'm dedicating this whole story to my pet rat, Mumble, who just recently died. I know, "pet rat? Eww!"

No, this little guy was adorable. I'll miss him very much.

I love you all, and I look forward to writing for you again as soon as I possibly can.

---Trudyann


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